Brook Adams

I have two bands, El Borko Surf! and the Miller Brothers Band. El Borko is usually a duo with myself and Jon Neher. Miller brothers is a dance band playing 20th Century Pop Music. Since the pandemic began, we have…

Ahh... chunky lows, chimey highs, and thick, bright single notes. I call it "Thump & Chime". The three main factors in getting this sound are the player's touch, the guitar pickups, and the gain structure from guitar to amp. I…

Count Drinkula is a wine swilling vampire. Because he's a vampire, he stays inside and does title searches for his wife, Anita who sells real estate. They live in a gated community called Pendejos Ricos in Las Casas, California. They…

This Monday, May 24 El Borko is the featured band on “Electric Beach Party”, a fun weekly surf music show from Cape Hatteras. https://www.radiohatteras.org/listen-live 
EASTERN TIME: 9:00 PM and 12:00 midnite 
PACIFIC TIME: 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM
99.9 WHDX-FM…

Why do we like surf? Well, for starters it's a big guitar sound, that whomping low bass and sparkling treble. The sound of surf is like a beautiful leviathan exploding from the sea. Surf evokes the power of waves and…

When I was in eighth grade, the youth group at our church brought in a band. This was at someone's house and the players were "big kids" from high school or maybe even college... oooh! We all listened to records…

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Listening to "No Time" by the Guess Who. I was in 7th or 8th grade when it came out. How they made that sound was beyond my comprehension. The song took me beyond the boundaries of my youthful experience into…

Tomorrow is 4/20 but...

I don't smoke that weed no more. 
It used to make my lungs so sore, 
That getting high was just a mess, 
Of coughing paranoid distress. 

So I must say I'm getting bored, 
By two times…

It's been my goal this year to post a blog and a video once a week. It's been going ok, but some weeks I get caught a bit short, like this week. But... working on a song for this week's…

Merriam-Webster describes Duende as a mystical force. They quote the poet Federico Garcia Lorca that Duende "is a power and not a behavior... a struggle and not a concept." Oof! What does that even mean? 

I think when a piece…

This post began as one thing and ended up somewhere different. Like Gypsy guitarists seeking  Duende, surf guitarists chase "the drip". This cavernous percussive sound is a defining element of surf. It takes a combination of technique and the right…

Pet owners love to post pictures of their little buddies. pet sleeps, pet does funny thing, pet looks cute. Guitar players do the same thing. And, like pets, guitar pictures reflect their owners, some look sharp, some look beat up…

One of my favorite albums is by the Finnish group Värttinä. I don't know a word of Finnish, but those women harmonize so well, they could be singing the Amazon Prime service agreement and I would like it. So as…

Because of the covid virus, many musicians are putting up video, and many are trying new and amusing things. Some are borderline genius, but you don't have to be a genius to put up something fun. 

On the album Roxy…

I've always been aware of surf music, but then three years ago I became a fan. As I learned to play the style, I found great satisfaction and new growth as a guitar player. How did this happen? I can…

My kids used to ask, "Dad, what's your favorite animal?". I would reply, "My favorite animal is... the monster". This happy memory got me wondering, why do I like monsters? Maybe because a monster is a mystery. 

Before we go…

When you tell people you like surf music, get ready to explain that you don't mean the Beach Boys. I like the Beach Boys just fine but we're talking about fast pickin', whammy swervin', reverb drippin' excitement! Dramatic guitar instrumentals…

We can all name our favorite albums, but some are more favorite than others. Even among your top ten, I bet you could name albums that you played over and over during some period of your life. Maybe it speaks…

Hey there people! It's January and I made a new album. It's called Surf Monster and it has 12 original songs. I call the musical style "Surficana", as in Surf-Americana. There's surf-rock, pop vocals in a semi-60s style, and some…

I saw a band called White Witch in a bar in New Orleans in the 70s (yes, I was under age). They had a smoke machine, a light-show, props, and costume changes. The show was totally choreographed and it was…

Your phone rings, it's a local area code, so you answer it. Oh bummer, it's some jerk trying to rip you off, sometimes it's not even a human. Yeah, you could get mad and hang up, but why not have…

I love this. I hate that. Really? Is it necessary to exaggerate? If everything is huge or outrageous or unprecedented, then how will we express things that are truly out of the ordinary? Florid language is the enemy of clear…

One time after a gig we sat in the bass player's van and smoked some weed. I was a big stoner in my younger days, but over time I kinda lost interest, so I was unprepared for how strong it…